THE FATS OF LIFE

Men with ADHD as kids more likely to be obese?

'These are longstanding issues that likely arose in early adolescence'

Published: 05/20/2013 at 1:14 PM

(CBSNEWS) — New research shows that men who had ADHD as children are twice as likely to be obese by the time they grow up than men who did not have the mental disorder as kids.

Even when socioeconomic factors were taken into account, men who had ADHD when they were younger still were more likely to be obese as adults, according to a new 30-year study published May 20 in Pediatrics.

“That really seems to be reflective of their early hyperactivity. It doesn’t matter what their current diagnosis is so much, so we think these are longstanding issues that likely arose in early adolescence,” study co-author Dr. Francisco Xavier Castellanos, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry in the Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, told HealthDay.